Four heads of state have already arrived in South Africa ahead of the 39^th Southern African Development Community Heads of State Summit set to be held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The leaders who have already arrived in Tanzania are Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa), Edgar Lungu (Zambia), Danny Faure (Seychelles) and Joao Lourenco (Angola).

More leaders are still expected in Dar es Salaam for the two-day summit, including representatives from Mauritius and eSwatini.

The meeting comes a few days after Tanzania assumed the chairmanship of the body’s council of ministers.

Hon. Professor Palamagamba John Kabudi, Tanzania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation assumed the Chairpersonship of the SADC Council of Ministers on 13 August, taking over from Hon. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Namibia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for International Relations and Cooperation.

Prof. Kabudi pledged to build on the remarkable achievements made under the leadership of the Republic of Namibia.

The 39^th SADC Heads of State Summit is expected to focus on bilateral cooperation among member states.

During the Summit, Tanzania’s President John Magufuli will take over SADC Chairmanship from Namibia’s Hage Geingob.

President Geingob has served in the position since August 2018.